


Gregory Horror Show: The Guest with the Sweater

by OhLookBalloons



Category: Gregory Horror Show
Genre: Characters will be added as chapters are planned, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-17 02:24:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8126816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhLookBalloons/pseuds/OhLookBalloons
Summary: You were just coming home from the Library, how did you end up in a forest? You live no where near one...
You need to head home, but you're lost, and tired as well. And your phone isn't working...You just wanted to get caught up on your homework...





	1. Chapter 1

GHS 01 

You're so tired. 

You were simply walking back from the library, having stayed till it closed. It wasn't a problem, sense the Library wasn't too far from your house. If anything, it was natural for you to walk home late after a long day of studying. 

Yet today, it did seem to be a problem. You've seem to have taken a wrong turn, because you're certain this isn't your neighbor hood. As a matter of fact, this is a forest, which is something not even remotely near your house. 

Where...where are you? All around you are trees and fog, almost like something out of a cheesy horror movie. You pull out your cellphone, and curse as you have no service. Damn your payment plan, now you can't find out where you are! You grip your backpack tighter as you pick up your pace. You're pretty sure you came from the north, right? Or was it the south...

As you wander, you see a light up ahead. You make your way towards it, feeling hope flutter in your chest. But no, it's not the town, or even a street light near a road. 

It's a hotel. Or, at least you assume it's a hotel.

The building is old, chipped paint here and there as well as wooden window covers and wooden door. It looks absolutely ancient.

The words, Gregory house, are printed on the outside of the building. As you get closer, you notice the door knobs are shaped like cartoonish mouse heads. Man, that's some weird architecture...

But you need to find out how to get back to town. Maybe you can ask for directions, or use a phone while your here...

You knock once, twice, three times. You don't want to just barge in; this place might actually be "Gregory's" house and not a hotel...

Still...

"One moment please!" 

The voice is old, raspy, but not gravely. It almost comes out as a squeak due to its pitch. You raise an eyebrow and hold your books tightly, but you still wait. 

After a seems like a couple of moments, the doors creaks open. You hear the hinges squeak in protest, the wood creaking as it's push outwards. You take a step back so you don't get knocked over. 

No one's in front of you. 

Cautiously, against everything you've ever been taught about stranger danger, you take a step in. Instantly, you notice how the weather's seemed to gotten warmer. Well, warmer might not be the right word, but it doesn't feel cold...

Suddenly, you hear the doors shut behind you. Spinning around, you still see no one there. You're basically death gripping your book bag straps by now. As you look around some more, you take in the items of the room. 

The walls are teal, the furniture looks old, and- and oh god are those bones in the-

"Would you like a room?" 

You turn your head, jumping to the side as you come face to face with a giant, clothed mouse. He's barely taller then you, even with his crooked back and such. His whisker twitch and his purple eyes widen at your startled reaction.

"Oh my, did I scare you, my dear? I'm terrible sorry, I forget how quiet I can be at times..." He ends his statement with a chuckle, but you're still gaping at the fact he's a mouse. 

You must be dreaming, this is some weird dream, it has to be. You're gonna wake up on your shitty cot and going to never, ever eat pizza before bed again. Or whatever food you ate, or eat if you didn't eat at all. Because normally you don't even dream and- 

"You're a mouse..." Is all you manage to squeak out, feeling the color drain from your face. 

"My, aren't you very observant." He tuts back, the condescending air around his comment seems to hold subtle tones of "no shit Sherlock". 

You close you're gaping mouth, before quickly looking away. Wow, way to be rude. wait, was that rude? Is it rude to point out if someone's a mouse or not? Maybe he was a rat, oh jeez...

"I-I'm sorry, sir. I just-" 

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's late, and we all say things when we're tired." You hear the sound of floor boards creaking, as well as the jingle of metal keys. "Here, why don't you take a seat while I go and prepare your room. You look positively exhausted." 

What, a room?! No, you can't, you need to get home! 

"U-uh, sir! Sir I'm so sorry but I-I-" 

But by the time you loo up, he's gone. You think about chasing after him, but you have no idea which way he went. If you get lost, he might get annoyed...

So, begrudgingly, you take a seat in one of the cracked leather chairs. 

It's not too bad, or at least, it's more comfortable then it looks. You feel the springs creak, but the cushioning is rather comfortable. You hold onto your book back and try to wait...

But you're already starting to nod off. Oh jeez, no, c'mon! You can stay awake, just don't close your eyes! 

Yet, suddenly, you smell flowers. Flowers and... cigarettes? The scent is so soothing, and followed by the sound of someone softly humming, you can't seem to stay awake...

No, but you... You need to get home...

_Don't try to fight it, young one. Just accept this. Sleep, rest. You've earned it..._

_Sleep..._

...

You're startled awake by a howl, or rather, a yowl? It sounds more like a cat then a dog, but it has to be an animal. Clinging to your book bag, you're gaze meets the mouse's once more.

You jump again, and almost his your head on the wall behind you. 

You notice he's a bit paler then before, and you think you see something peaking out from behind him. 

"I'm sorry about that, my dear. We had a bit of an issue. Everything should be settled now, thankfully." 

You start to nod, but stop yourself, remembering exactly where you need to be right then. You jump out of the chair. 

"S-sir, I am so, so sorry. But I can't stay. I was actually about t-to ask for directions and-" 

"Directions? Oh my dear, you don't want to be wandering around at this time of night." The old mouse says, his eyes gazing to one of the shut windows. As if on cue, a huge boom of thunder echoes around the hotel. You nearly jump in surprise. "Trust me, you don't want to take your chances wandering out there. It's quiet a long way from where you wish to go. And the weather's awfully ghastly tonight." 

 

"B-but my family!" You squeak out, before quickly biting your tongue. You feel bad but, but you need to go home... They're probably wondering where you are right now. "Sir, do you have a phone I could use? At least to call them?" 

"I'm sorry my dear, but we don't have a public phone here...." The mouse turns back to you with a sigh. "I'm sure one of our other guests have one you might be able to use, but everyone's asleep at the moment. I suggest waiting until tomorrow morning. Surly, if your parents are kind, they'll understand." 

You open your mouth to say something, but decided against it. You don't want to tell this stranger you life's story, even if this is a dream. You're pretty sure it's a dream. But if it is, why do you want to go home so badly? 

"Come now my dear, you're room is waiting." 

You watch as he turns arou- oh god there's an axe in his head...

After a moment or two, He seems to notice you're not following him. He turns to look at you. 

"Is there something wrong?" 

...well, it looks like he doesn't notice it.

You slowly shake your head, before making your way to him. He seems please at that, and you follow him down the candle lit hallways. 

"Oh!" He stops for a second, turning to face you once again. "How rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Gregory. If you ever need anything, please let me know." 

You nod, and resume your walk. Slowly, you realize he hadn't asked for your name. For some reason, that doesn't seem to bother you. Honestly, you feel relived, but it still bugs you slightly. 

You simply let it be, because honestly you're too tired to speak. 

"You must have been studying rather hard," Gregory says to you, and you nod. "Well just be careful my dear, Sometimes there are thing people are better off not knowing." 

You barely catch the "just kidding" he says at the end, but before you can ask what he meant, you're already at your "room". 

It's has a small bed, a closed window, a wardrobe, a desk, and a chair. Looking to your right, you notice a stain where a picture could have hung. It almost looks like a burn mark...

"Now you just get some well deserved rest, and when morning come we'll try and find which town you came from, alright?" 

You nod and take a seat on the bed, feeling the spring creak under you. You can hear the rain pouring down outside, and you find yourself thankful for not being caught in the storm. You look back over at Gregory, a sad smile on your face. 

"Just wondering, h-how much will this cost? I'm not sure I have enough m-money on me to-"

"Oh, Don't worry about it, my dear. You can pay me back once you find your way home." He seems to find that mirthful, as he lets out another chuckle. Man, this guy has a weird sense of humor...

"Oh, thank you!" You seem to relax at that, seeing as you're actually flat broke. You only have a dollar to your name at the moment. 

"It's nothing, it's nothing. Now remember, just call me if you need anything." And with that, he shuts the door. You almost think you hear someone mutter "don't thank me yet", but you're pretty sure it was the wind. 

You take a look around your room, one last time, before lifting the covers and getting ready for the sweet embrace is sleep. The blankets are too uncomfortable, and honestly it's got a bit of a rustic feel. You almost feel kind of bad that it's all a dream. You like this place. 

But you have school tomorrow, and you can't afford to keep dreaming all the time. 

You'll wake up from this weird dream soon...


	2. Into the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Running will get you no where..._

Ghs 02

When you open your eyes, you feel your heart plummet to the bottom of your stomach. This pillow isn't your own, this bed isn't your shitty cot, and this room is not yours. You slowly lean up, feeling the weight of the situation fall upon you in the candle light. 

You're not waking up. This isn't a dream.

This is real...everything that happened last night was real...

Quickly jumping out of the bed, you adjust your slept-in school clothes and rush out the door. The hallway is still dark, and the only light you can see is coming from the candles. But it doesn't matter to you. 

You need to leave. 

Now. 

As you pass the reception desk, you hear a surprised squeak as Gregory see you zoom past. 

"My dear, where are you going?!" 

You don't stop, instead pushing the door open and running out into the night. Even the forest looks different now, dead trees litter your line of sight. Wait, it's still night time?! 

You feel uneasy entering the darkness, but you don't want to stay there. You don't feel safe here. 

But that's never been new...

On the plus side, it stopped raining! 

As you run, you notice more and more odd stones poking out of the ground. As well as trash. You almost trip over some glasses bottle, gross. In the distance, you can hear Gregory calling out for you, but it's faint. Soon it vanish all together, and you're left with the wind as your only source of sound. 

You only start slow down once you spot a road. Taking deep, gasping breath's, you slump to the ground and try to compose yourself.

You have no idea where you are. 

You have no idea where you're going.

You're lost, once again. But you have a feeling that it'll be better then staying in the hotel. Yet, you don't know why? Gregory, although creepy, was kind to you. Was it bad of you to assume he was dangerous, even after just meeting him? 

Maybe he was actually going to help you...

Maybe, if you trusted him...

But it's too late now. You're already out of Gregory house, and you have no idea how to get back. All you can do now is follow this road, and go where ever it leads.

But which way do you go? 

"Hey! Hey lady!" 

You spin around, noticing a figure in the darkness. You squint, trying to get a better look at them. They seem small, smaller then you in fact. Their voice is rather high pitched, almost like a- no, no that is totally a kid!

What's a kid doing all the way out here?! 

You wave, and watch as the kid comes closer. You feel your heart drop when you notice they have a pair of big, round ears and a long, thin tail. 

Another mouse...

"Wow lady, what are you doing all the way out here?" He seems curious, not at all confused. You notice something in his grasp, but it's too dark to tell.

"Uh..." You don't really know how to respond for a moment, but you quickly gather yourself. "I c-could be asking you the same thing!" 

"Me?" He raises an eyebrow, "I'm just playing outside!"

You relax slightly, noticing the slingshot in his little hand- no wait, that's a paw. He must have been shooting up the trash that's been lying around...

"Oh, right...isn't it a bit late to be outside though?" You ask, your voice not hiding your concern. This kid's parents must be looking for him, if it is actually late...

Does he even have parents? Do they even care? 

"Nope! My grandpa said I could play as long as I wanted!" He laughs, walking circles around you. "But what about you? Did your grandpa say you could be out this late?" 

You pauses, before shaking you head and letting out a sigh. "No, no, I'm just lost...you wouldn't happen to know wh-" 

"Hey lady look!" 

You intrupted by the small Mouse, pointing into the mist. Raising an eyebrow, you look over and notice...

"Oh...oh god..." 

Leaning against a tree is none other then a skeleton, clutching a bottle of wine and giggling like a mad man. You feel your arms stiffen, because every part of you is tell you this is wrong. For a body to be moving, to be held together, it needs skin and muscles and ligaments and- 

You bite down a shriek as the skeleton looks up at you, squinting at you. Which should be impossible because it would require eyelids and it's just bone how can bone eve-

Oh no it's moving towards you...

"Hey there~" it's stumbling over, it movements jaunty and just- just all together odd. How is it moving, how is this happening... "Why don't you two come on over for a moment. You both look pretty worn down. Maybe a sip of this'll help ya?" 

Holy shit no, no, no way are you going over there. That sounds sketchy as hell and-

"Sure!" The boy starts making his way over, but instantly you grab his shoulder. "Hey!?" 

"Actually, I think t-that were fine just on our own! Thank you very much though!" You hold the mouse close to you, giving the strange skeleton a wary eye. You may be terrified, but like your gonna let some poor kid get tricked into... 

Into whatever that skeleton wants to do to you two...

The skeleton doesn't seem to like that though, and takes a step towards you both. 

"Aw c'mon, you ain't gonna get in trouble or nothin'! What's one little sip gonna do?" 

"Yeah Lady! C'mon!" The boy looks up at you, and for a moment, you think he's egging you on. But he looks so innocent...

"N-no thank you! Now that I think about it, a-we should probably be leavening. Sorry to b-bother you sir!" 

Despite the boy's protests, you start pulling him away from the skeleton. You stumble lightly as your foot collides next to another bottle. But something else is holding onto it- 

Oh good god it's another hand! 

"Oh don't be like that!" The Skelton says as another starts to emerge from the ground. "Surly you could stick around for a little bit! We got so much in common!" 

The moment the bottle hand goes for your ankle, you let out a scream and start to run. The boy in your arms lets out a laugh as he's hauled up, basically cradled as you sprint through out the forest. 

You're scream seemed to attract more of those monsters, as they all start popping out of the ground. You don't dare to look back, you know if you do you'll trip and fall or something worse. You've seen horror movies...

Suddenly, a familiar light seems to shine in the distance. You make a beeline towards it, avoiding what you can along the way. You've never ran this hard in your life, not even during field day. And for some reason, your faster then them! But you guess, when your running from a bunch of dead bodies, a living one would be a bit faster...

You don't care that the light was actually the opened door of Gregory Hotel. Or the fact that Gregory himself is watching you from the door way. He seems to be amused by your running, but his eyes widen when he notices the hoard of undead behind you. Or maybe it's when he noticing your carrying someone. 

It doesn't matter. What matters is you basically rush into the hotel at full speed, allowing Gregory to shut the door an bolt it into place. You collide with the reception desk, and feel your arm snap as it tries to soften the blow. The boy lets out an "oof" as well, but you don't notice. You spin around to face Gregory. 

An undead hand, having been wedged into between the heavy wooden doors, becomes severed and slumps to the ground. You watch it squirm and wiggle. You're grip on the boy becomes tighter, despite his protests. 

"Ah, I see you've met my grandson, James." Gregory says calmly, making his way over to you. He stomps onto the hand, and it turns to dust. "Don't worry my dear, you can let go now. You're all safe here." 

You shakily do so, but when James hops off, you wrap your arms around yourself. Every part of you is shaking, and you're sure you look like a mess. All you can do is grip your sweater and try to ground yourself, but all of this is just so hard to believe...

Of course he'd be related to Gregory. They're both mice. Nice going idiot...

"Yeah, those Dead bodies hate coming into the hotel!" James said happily, with out a care in the world. "They know what'll happen to them if they do!" 

"W...what?" 

What could possible stop a zombie from coming in here? Minus the door...

"Oh don't listen to him," Gregory cuts in, handing you your book bag as he shoos the child away. You shakily grab it with your better arm. "He has a bit of a wild imagination, but then again what child doesn't? James, why don't you go play somewhere else for a moment?" 

"Huh? But I wanna hang out with you guys! " He tries to argue, but before Gregory can even utter a word, something seems to catch James's eye. He shoots Gregory a sly smile then, before nodding. "Actually, I'll just go see if Mummy dog want to play! See ya grandpa, bye lady!" 

And like that, he's gone. You think you hear him swipe something off of the counter, but you're too frazzled to actually focus. Gregory doesn't seem to notice though, as he's gotten his attention on you now. 

"Like I said, it's alright. Deep breathes now..." 

You do as Gregory says, allowing him to lead you up off the floor. You're walking down the hallway now. After you're breathes calmed, he seems to talk again. 

"You sure did give me a morning surprise, my dear. Leaving all of your things here, how would you ever finish your homework then?" He tuts and you just nod along. That would have been your luck too, leaving you just finished homework in a weird universe...was this even a universe? Where ever was this place? 

"And you left your phone as well; how careless! You're lucky I was near by when it rang."

"I-it rang?!" You seems to snap awake at that, your eyes widen as you grip your backpack tightly. Reaching into the front pocket, you grab where you assume your phone would be. But you can't seem to find it... "Who called?! Was it my Mom? My brother?!" 

"Oh! Well I'm not sure who it was, actually." He looks off to the side, away from you. "I couldn't get the darned thing to open up! All I could do was watch it ring and be unable to answer. So fickle, phones are these days..." 

You scowl and try to open your phone, but instantly you see that you can't... 

It looks like Gregory did try to open your phone, and in doing so has locked you out. The notification say you'll have to wait a week till you an try again too, just how many damn times did he try to get in?! 

You feel your hopes shatter with that, letting a sigh escape you. 

"Oh c'mon..." You rub your free hand through your hair, wincing when you feel a pain in your arm. Shit, right, you basically smashed in between James and the reception desk...

"Don't worry my dear, it's not like you can go anywhere else," Gregory states, before adding, "with those undead crawling around, that is. Here, I bet your arm's still sore from where you hit the desk. I'll take you to the hotel's nurse. She'll patch you up faster then you can say "check up"!" 

"A ...a hotel nurse?" 

"Yes, this establishment has a nurse on hand just incase any... Accident, occur." He seems to chuckle at that, and you feel your worries start to creep in once more. "She's been a resident here for quite some time now. Oh she'll love to meet you, new blood and all that..." 

As he leads you past your room, you feel a sense of dread full your bones. You get the feeling that he might have not meant that as an old saying...


	3. Doctor's Orders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you have to hurt to heal...

You never really enjoyed going to the doctor. Not when you were younger, that is. The sterile, bland walls seemed to squash any joy you could have gained from the place. Then there were the other patients and staff there, all too much for you to deal with. You’d prefer to just take some pain medicine and ride out your colds in your room, doctors be damned. So it had been quite some time since you'd gone to an actual doctor.

Yet, you knew for a fact, that doctor's did not have needles that huge. Especially on their walls. The moment you spotted them, you froze mid step, eyes widening to the size of saucers. 

“My dear, what’s the matter?” Gregory asks from behind you, patiently waiting for you to enter. His voice seems to be too sweet now, undoubtedly faking his concern. “Don’t tell me you're afraid of doctors.” 

“N...no sir.” You mutter as you enter the office, trying to save face. You didn’t know why you were so nervous. Gregory is nice, he saved you from the zombies and gave you shelter. If he’s wanted to do something horrible to you, he’d already have done it by now.

Or, at least, that’s what you keep telling yourself…

Upon further inspection, you notice that there are two beds in the room, as well as other non-menacing medical tools. They’re all organized and neat, and not a speck of dusts covers the room. The walls even have plaques of various medical awards and certifications, ether made to a “Dr. Fritz” or a “Nurse Catherine”. Yet there aren’t any pictures of these two, and now that you look around more, there isn’t a window ether. 

Clearly, these people are fake...or well, at least the ones labeled “Nurse Catherine” are. No sane person would name their child “Nurse”...

Right?

But it’s not like you have a choice in the matter; you’re arm’s gone from a dull ache to a fierce sting.

“Ah, it seems no one's here.” Gregory sighs, his head swiveling around the room lazily. “She’s probably off checking on Mummy Papa. She should be here shortly…”

“M-mummy papa?” You feel your eyebrows raise in confusion and surprise at the name. Why would anyone be called that?

“Oh, he’s another one of the guests at this hotel,” Gregory reassures you, yet his focus seems to be on the needles. He doesn’t get close, but he stares at them quite horribly. “His family tends to get sick often, they’re probably one of Catherine's most common patients.” 

“Oh…is Mummy P-papa a nickname?” You start to swing your legs, already feeling bored from waiting. If your phone wasn’t locked, you’d play on some apps. At least now you’re being more social, just like your mother always wanted.

“I suppose…” He replies, now starting to pace around the room. He seems to be getting annoyed, peering at the door before pacing some more. It’s starting to get to you now as well, and you stop swinging your legs. 

“Oh…” you don’t really have the nerves to ask what that means. Seeing as he’s already starting to get agitated- nose twitching, tail flicking, feet tapping the floor when he pauses- you don’t want to risk making him even more angry. Yet your arm is really starting to get to you. You’re hoping you didn’t break it, you can’t afford to pay for that...

The conversation drops there, and it’s only a few minutes later that someone can be heard shuffling down the hallway. Correction, two people can be heard. The first voice seems smaller, full of much more pep than Gregory’s raspy squeaks. The other voice, one that's much more alluring and richer, seemed to be holding some mirthful tones as well. They laugh, and you feel your heart start to race. 

Gregory notices, and a mischievous glint crosses over his eyes. You instantly get the feeling that this isn’t good. 

“My dear, what’s the matter?” Gregory asks you, a sly smile on his now calmed face. His voice is a little louder then before, you’ve noticed. “You look a little pale, I hope your not bleeding as well. It would be such a bother to clean up…” 

Before you can tell him you're fine, the footsteps quicken, and you bite down on your words as the panic rises in your chest. Come now, you say to yourself, it’s just a person! Why are you so nervous?

“Gregory, is that you in there?” The sultry voice asks, tone lighthearted and teasing. “Don’t tell me you’ve hurt yourself again. You should be taking it easy in your old age.” 

You see the pink snout, scaly yet lustrous, before Catherine steps fully into view. She’s tall, far taller than even your stepfather, and dressed in an old school nurse's outfit. Her tail seems to stay straight, not flicking about like Gregory’s, and her eyes hold a beautiful shade of green in them. They seem excited, and the moment she spots you, they practically light up. You grip the papery rolls of the bed in mild panic.

You honestly don’t know what you were expecting, maybe another mouse? 

Behind her is a small dog child, dressed in overalls, wrapped in bandages and…

And…

And with an axe in his head...

“Oh m-my god,” Instantly, you jump off the bed and step aside. This lady clearly has more important things to deal with then your broken arm. Yet as you wait for her to move forward with the boy, she simply stares at you with confusion, as do the other animals with in the room. You start to feel their gazes burrowing into you...

“My dear, be careful! You’ll surely tear your arm up if you keep moving around!” Gregory yells, looking over from Catherine to you and back. “Catherine, meet our newest guest! She hurt herself this morning while going on a “run”. If you don’t mind, could you-” 

“I’m already one step ahead of you.” Catherine smiles, strutting towards you and away from the others. “C’mon now, sweetie. Let’s get you up on the bed.” 

You can’t move, you’re frozen. You’re eyes glued to the boy. It only takes Catherine a few moments to catch your line of sight. Her smile softens and she leans closer towards you. You feel yourself back up even further, until your back is against the wall. You’ve never had someone so close to before, at least, one that was never this nice to you. 

 

“Don’t worry about him, he’s fine, trust me.” She’s trying to be reassuring, but honestly it isn’t helping. “He’d be dead by now if he wasn’t.” 

“B-but...but how?” You ask, heart racing and body trembling, and to make matters worse, you're starting to get embarrassed because of causing a scene. Catherine doesn’t answer, instead gently grabbing your free arm and guiding you to the bed. Her claws seem to dig into your sweater sleeve, yet the materials too thick for her to breach. 

“That can be explained later, right now we need to worry about you!” She says with a smile, twirling away from you and over to the wall covered in needles. You turn to look at Gregory, as if to ask him why she’s getting the needle, but you’re stopped. 

The boy has rushed up to your bed now, and seems to be staring at you intently.

“Golly miss, you sure are in good hands! Miss Catherine's the best nurse around!” He smiles, tail wagging and eyes bright. You’re caught off guard by this, and it takes you a few moments to realize that you hadn’t responded back.

“O-oh, I-i bet she is….” your voice trails off as you start to reach for the axe handle. “Uh, sorry for asking, but when did-” 

The moment your fingertip brushes against the handle, the boy recoils, wincing slightly and back away. You seemed to do so similarly, and quickly removing your hand and hiding it behind your back. Guilt washes over you like a flood. 

“Oooooh…” he groans, paws squabbling to his head, centimeters short of the axe itself. “My head!”

“Oh! I’m s-so sorry!” You feel the panic from early double. You should have kept your hands to yourself. “I-I just- I-” 

And suddenly, the moaning stop. The small puppy returned right to your side and smile just as brightly as he did before. 

“Don’t worry about it! Miss Catherine says I have chronic migraines! It’s not your fault!” He giggles, tail wagging and all, as if nothing had happened. “But what about you! How did you get hurt?” 

“Uh, well…it’s a long story.” You smile nervously, stalling to gather your story together. It’s off putting how fast that kid recovered...if he was even hurt at all. “By chance, do you know anyone that has a ph-”

Suddenly, something pierced your back. 

Something big, cold, and unnatural. 

Your body tenses, and a burning pain comes from your spine. You gasp for air, but it’s not enough. You try to pull away, but a scaled hand grabs your shoulder, digging its claws into your sweater.

“Hold still sweetie, I just need to take a blood sample is all~” Catherine practically purrs, holding you in place as both the boy and Gregory watch with complicity. You can’t even scream, the pain silences you. Yet you try to reach for them, for Gregory or the boy, for someone to save you. 

You’re starting to feel lighter, fainter...

The boy laughs innocently, smiling and rushing around. Gregory simply watches with anticipation, not worried at all. 

Your body starts to feel colder, emptier.

You feel a tear leak out from your eyes, the panic rising to a crescendo before your vision blurs completely. You heart desperately tries to pump what little blood is left around you…

Then you hear a startled voice, but you can’t make it out… the needle is removed...

And then, thankfully, you faint. 

\---

“Catherine! Goodness, you almost drained the poor girl dry!” Gregory yells, having rushed over to shake the nurse from her ecstatic state. “Do you know how much trouble I would have gotten into if the soul was harvested too early?!” 

“Oh c’mon Gregory,” Catherine chides, holding the almost full needle of blood close to her, shooting the old mouse a glare. “What do you take me for, a rookie? I know what i’m doing.” 

“Still! That was way too much!” He seems rather steamed now, glaring daggers at her. “One more second, and her soul would have been worthless!” 

“Well it doesn’t matter now, what’s done is done.” She chuckles, turning away from the sweater wearing guest and towards the other bed, practically nuzzling the needle. “You’ve got your guest too weak to run, and i’ve got my daily dose for the day.” 

“Ugh, fine. Whatever you say, Catherine. Just remember that the-” 

“Miss Catherine! You’re gonna fix her up, right?” Mummy dog asked, back to the girl’s side. “Now that she’s asleep, it’ll be easy to get X-rays, right?” 

The two adults shared a look of mild surprise, but Catherine quickly set the needle down and turned to Mummy Dog before Gregory could say anything more. She didn’t know what he would say anyway, but no doubt it wouldn’t be good. 

“Of course! If you’d like, you could position her arm while I get the machine.” Catherine smiled, gently patting the child’s head as she saw his eyes begin to sparkle. “Just be careful, alright?” 

“Yes ma’am!” Mummy Dog smiled, before quickly rushing over and climbing on the bed. It was almost adorable, watching him try to position the guest’s arm properly for the shot. He mumbled to himself as he worked, gingerly picking up the possible broken limb and moving it this way and that. 

“When did you start-” Gregory began, but was quickly cut off. 

“He’s been getting more and more curious with the medical equipment. Asking questions about how they work and such.” Catherine sighed, already walking across the room to grab a few of the X-ray boards she’d need. “I’d figured i’d let him help out with minor tasks and see if he kept the interest…”

“Are you going to teach him?” Gregory asked as he made his way to the door. The hotel owner and the nurse crossed paths for a moment. Both stopping to hear what the other would say.

“Perhaps,” she uttered, watching the young boy, the trapped child, play doctor with an almost corpse. “With Cactus Girl too busy to come back, maybe he’d been a better nurse. And if he could patch up his parents, it would give me and Fritz more free time to peruse other patients…” 

“I see,” Gregory chuckled, a mirthful gleam in his eye. “Very well then, i’ll leave you two too your work. Just remember, curiosity wasn’t the only thing killed that cat.”

“And you’re wife was the one who brought him back,” Catherine replied in a more annoyed tone. “Now get lost before I decided our blood bank levels are low.” 

Gregory was out the door before Catherine even blinked.


	4. Heart of glass, Meet literal iron cage

You don’t remember walking to your room. You don’t even remember walking at all. But no doubt, once you finally open your eyes, you’re back in your hotel room. You try to get up, but your newly found vertigo stops you. Plus your back’s still sore from the needle, not to mention your now slinged arm is still throbbing in pain. You let out a hiss, a moan, but manage to will yourself up right. 

 

Your backpack’s laid by your bedside, with what seems to be a handmade card. Reaching with your good hand, you flip it open to see “get well soon” scrawled in crayon, and a heart with a band-aid. You’d find it cute if you hadn’t been stabbed with a giant needle before hand…

 

You reach for your phone, but find it isn’t in your front pocket, nor your back. Your nerves begin to grip you as you search more and more wildly. You flip the contents of your book bag onto the floor, nothing. You check under the bed, nothing. By the time you’ve check the whole room, it’s a mess of paper, ripped off sheets, and junk. 

 

You slump to the floor, realizing that it’s not here. Which ether meant some one stole it, or it fell out of your pocket while you were being moved. Which meant you couldn’t call your family now, even if you wanted too. They'd never knew you were here, and you’d be left to die in this weird hell hole of a hotel. 

 

Yes, by now you’d figured that there was much more to Gregory then the simple old hotel owner. But you don’t know why he, or anyone else here, would be so keen on hurting you? Then again, no one else needed a reason, back when you were home…

 

Before you realize it, you’re crying. No, wait, you’ve been crying. It’s only now, that you’ve stopped rummaging around the room, that you’ve finally began to catch your breath and sob. The full weight of the situation gets to you, and you slowly slump to the floor and bring your limbs up into your sweater. Thankfully, the material has enough stretch to shelter you as you cried. 

 

You believe you remained like that for a good while. Just letting your nerves finally get to you, letting the pain out of your tired soul. It would have been nice, had it been somewhere you felt safe enough to cry. But you were quiet certain this place was a hell all wrapped up in itself…

 

At least you were alone at the moment.

 

Or so you thought.

 

**_“Do you know,_ **

**_Who I am?”_ **

 

The moment you heard the voice, you tried your best to quiet your sobs. Partially out of fear of being found again, and mostly out of embarrassment; You don’t think you could  _ live _ if someone finding you like this. So quickly, your squirm out of your overstretched sweater, patting down your messed up hair and drying your eyes. 

 

**_“They call me_ **

**_Judgment boy!”_ **

 

You shimmy yourself towards the door, placing your ear on it’s rotting wooden surface. You don’t need to hear his voice, but you want to hear his footsteps. If he, or whatever gender the mystery person was, was coming this way, you’d bolt under the bed and hide. But if his footsteps went elsewhere, then why waste what little energy you have. 

 

The thing that threw you off was that, unlike everyone else, there were no footsteps… 

 

**_“Do you know,_ **

**_Who I am?”_ **

 

As a matter of fact, it sounded more like a machine, being moved down a line or a pulley system. Like wheels rolling on a trail, almost. But you clearly remember there being no such railing on the floor, not of this hotel…

 

What, what was out there? 

 

**_“They call me-”_ **

 

Suddenly, the door is yanked open, and you topple to the ground with the grace of a ton of bricks. Sprawled onto the floor, you can only gaze up in an embarrassed stupor at...at…

 

At a robot tied to the ceiling…

 

**_“Judgement boy!”_ **

 

You look at Judgment boy, and you feel the last of your wits fly out the door. Because you honestly have no idea what you’re looking at right now, but you sure as hell know he’s looking down at you.  He smiles, and you feel even more shame as you scramble up to your feet, clearly you probably look pathetic like this. Eyes red, arm in a sling, a pure mess; it takes you everything not to panic and slam the door back in place.

 

“I-i’m so sorry! I just-”

 

**_“JUDGMENT!”_ **

 

Before you can say anything more, you see him start to spin. Which is weird, but not completely bad. It’s only when you see the large, metal cage coming right at you that you realize how bad this really is. You duck just in time to avoid getting smacked, but as you rise up to back away, the other one hits your square in the jaw. You lay on the floor, pretty sure you bit your cheek during the fall. Blood slowly starts to pool out of your now cracked lip. 

 

By the time Judgement boy notices you’ve disappeared, you’ve crawled your pathetic ass back into your room and have decided that you’re going to take another nap. You hear a knock, and after you don’t respond, you hear another.

 

**_“U-uh, hey? You in there?”_ **

 

You simply cover your head with a pillow to block out his knocking, and soon enough you drift back to sleep. 

 

* * *

 

 

_ You’re dreaming for probably the first time in a long, long while. Or at least you think so. You’ve never been good at remember dreams, often forgetting them the moment you woke up. And although the weird, floaty void you were hanging in felt like a dream, it also didn’t. It almost felt like you were on the cusp of something, like standing on the edge of a cliff, or a diving board. Yet its impact was deeper, like...like a threshold? _

_ A part of you felt at peace here, content to just drift until you couldn’t feel anymore. But a part of you didn’t, the part of you that was scared and skittish hated this uncontrolled pacified energy. It cried out, screamed at your limbs to move, for you to wake up, but you couldn’t… _

 

_ A part of you wasn’t ready to go yet.  _

 

_ You heard the carefree tone of windchime. _

 

_ A figured appeared in front of you.  _

 

_ They were dressed in a large, black jacket, with flame red hair and a strange blue and yellow hat. Yet what startled you, shook you enough to visibly recoil in the empty void, was their face and hands. Where flesh should have been was bone, eyes empty and void of light; the being was a skeleton.  _

 

_ “Forget about it! Throw away all them worries!”  _

 

_ For such a frightening imagine, the man spoke with a cheerful gusto. You relaxed.  _

 

_ “Oh wow, you sure do look worse for wear!” The skeleton stated as his gaze met yours, floating over towards you with mild concern in his voice. “This the first time you slept, since coming to Gregory house and all?”  _

 

_ You try to say something, but nothing come out of your mouth. Yet the skeleton seems to hear you just fine. He offer’s his hand to you, and smiles a ghastly smile. You think it’s just ghastly because he has no gums. Behind him, various balls of colored lights seem to float around, some fast paced, other mellow and relaxed.  _

 

_ “Well you can take it easy here. Relax for a few even. And when you're ready to go, just let me know, alright?” The Skeleton says, turning away from you. You nod, and allow yourself to lose focus once more. You let a soft smile grace your face as you shut your eyes, trying to rest for just a few moments.  _

 

_ As your mind drifts in and out of focus, apart of you still worries, still panics and fidgets within your tired conscious. You can’t help but think about your homework, your family, try to explain how you broke your arm, your chorus; all the things you’ll have to do tomorrow. All of which you should be trying to fix right now.  _

 

_ You heard something swish by, almost like a sword or a baseball bat.  _

 

_ What would your Mother say if she saw you like this? What would your step-father do? Would they even let you have a break? Or would they make you work even more to overcompensate for your “laziness”? They were already ashamed of your average grades, your average look, your average style. _

 

_ Another swish, followed by two more. They’re picking up now, in rapid succession. _

 

_ And then there's your little brother. He’s so smart for his age, but he’d panic if he noticed you weren’t home. He’s always been a gentle soul, far too much for your stepfather’s liking. He’s one of the few things keeping you going, what would he think if you weren’t on the couch that morning… _

 

_ The swishing gets closer, faster, now with a steady rhythm to it. Almost like someone was sawing, or cutting something… _

 

_ Then there's your homework, the only thing that would help you get away and move to college. You worked so hard, studying countless nights, just to keep your all A grade average. You were never as gifted as your fellow classmates, but you knew you needed to succeed, else you’d be left behind. You had to work hard to catch up, would laying here throw your whole life away? Would all that your worked for be forgotten?! Would you be forgotten?!  _

 

_ Would she forget you, even if you died in her sweater?  _

 

_ Would you ever see her again?  _

 

_ In your panic, you opened your eyes. Right in front of you, the skeleton floated, holding a huge scythe in his boney hands. Between you, a green light, barely the size of your hand. Everything seems to slow down as the scythe lowers, zeroing in upon the light and slicing it in half. A small sigh escapes as the now faded light, almost soft enough for you too miss.  _

 

_ You and the skeleton are all that remain, staring eachother down for completely different reasons. Shakily, you raise your hand and point away from you, to where you feel the threshold is.  _

 

_ “I want to go back.” You say, slow but audible, your voice oozing with determination and renewed purpose. “I...I need to go back…” _

 

_ He stares some more, his brow furrowing somehow. You’d be holding your breathe if you were sure you were breathing. You didn’t want to die, you still had so much left to do, so many to fix and resolve and find. And most importantly, you still had to return the sweater you wore. _

 

_ The reaper smiled, pulling his scythe away from you and slinging behind his back. He offered you his hand. _

 

_ “Glad you made up your mind, kid. It’s always a pain to watch people leave too soon.”  _

_ You took his hand, and effortlessly followed as he lead you away from the threshold, deeper into the void. As you felt the calmness leave you, you listened to the reaper’s wise words.  _

 

_ “Now listen good and listen well, cause I’m probably only going to say this once. You’re gonna have to go back to Gregory House. That’s how you came here, the exit’s there too. It’s always different for everybody, fits your physci and stuff. Once you figure out that, you’ll be able to leave! But you got to want to leave, ok! And you got to believe in it, ok? You got it?” _

 

_ “But I came through the forest...didn’t I?” You mused, running your free hand through hair, fighting the small migraine building in your head. You felt like you were getting heavier, that everything was becoming more and focused, but...not… _

 

_ “You ain't listenin to me, focus!” The reaper said, spinning around to face you. He grabbed you other hand and held it up with his own even bending down a little to meet your gaze. “Don’t give up. No matter what happens, no matter how you feel, you need to keep fighting it. Got it?” _

 

_ “...d-don’t give up.” You parroted, the words feeling far to familiar for your liking. Your eyes started to water, and you nodded, letting a wobbly smile grace your face as tears fell down. “Got it.” _

_ “Good, good.” he let go of your hands, and you start to drift away, falling down into the void. You wave good bye, and he does too, but not before giving you some final words of advice. “And stop getting yourself killed! This is the third time you’ve wandered into here!” _

 

_ Before you can ask him what that mean, you’re body begins to pick up speed. Your hair starts to whip in the breeze, your body starts pick up velocity; you realize you're falling. You wonder for a moment if death tricked you, but you can’t think.  _

 

_ You only wrap your arms around the cocoon you call a sweater and hold on for dear life. _

 

* * *

 

  
  


You gasp. Air greets your lungs like ice water. Your eyes snap open, but nothing makes sense.

 

Someone screams, no, some people scream. Their voice shrill and loud, they send your head ringing. 

 

You need to run. You need to leave, you need to live.

 

There's a clatter, one drops something and the other yells at them.

 

You’re visions, blurry, but you hop to your feet. You have to live, you have to leave, you have to run or else you won’t make it. 

 

Your legs don’t comply, stumbling shakily as you scramble to the door. Yout think it’s the door, you can tell there's light coming through it. 

 

“Miss!” one of the shrill voices, nasally and almost as nervous as you, calls out. “Miss! You need to lie down, you-”

 

You’ve already made your way out of the doorway and into the hallway. You keep running forward. Your legs remember that they’re not jello and begin to work again. You blink, trying to clear your vision. 

 

The world starts to spin. You’re leggs decide being jello is better and you stumble back to the ground, flopping with the grace of a giant tuna fish. The scent of the wood is unbearable, as it reeks of rot and fungus and other things you didn’t wish to think about. You’re feel a sharp pain from your broken arm as well, seeing as you landed right on top of it. As you try to gather your breath, you hear the rushed footsteps of two people, as well as the grumbling of another.    
  


“Stupid kid! I risk my tail to bring them back to life and they bolt on me! And I thought she’d be easy, simple to-”

 

“In all due respect, Gregory,  _ I _ was the one who did all the work. You didn’t even call me, the judgement boy did. You just shuffled in when you noticed me working on her- oh here she is.” 

 

You felt a hand, cold as ice, reach for your neck. You squirm away, flipping yourself over and staring at the duo. By now, you’re vision has cleared enough for you to see your “saviors”. You recognize Gregory, who only squints at you with annoyance. He seems rather out of breath as well, as he leans on the nearby wall and wheezes. The other is a stranger to you, his skin is sewed up in a patchwork of dead blues and rotting teals. He looks more like a Frainstine’s Monster knockoff then anything, and only has a few strands of blue hair on his head. Other than that, he’s dressed rather normally, with huge, thick lensed glasses and a doctor's coat. 

 

He’s clearly startled by you flipping over, and yanks his hand back before you can do anything to him. “O-Oh! Pardon me! I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t died again!” 

 

All you can really do is stare at the man, wondering why he thought that was ever a good thing to say. He chuckles nervously at your gaze, and you feel a little bad for it. You soften your stance as you shuffle up. You don’t have to trust them, but you don’t have to be rude ether. How better did it make you then?

 

“I’m sorry. I’ve been having a really bad week.” You confessed, leaning your back against the wall and refusing to stand up. You looked up at the doctor as you talked, worrying about your vertigo and your wobbly legs. 

 

“I can tell,” he replies honestly, kneeling to your level so you can talk eye to eye. You’re stance on the matter seems to have calmed him enough to talk to you. “ It’s not everyday someone breaks an arm, gets all of their blood removed, and-”

 

“I believe she know’s what she’s been though, Dr.Fritz.” Gregory cut in, still a bit crossed with the whole ordeal. He shuffled over towards you and gave a half assed concerned look. “Speaking of which, are you able to walk? It would be a shame if we had to drag you back to your room.” 

 

You wince at his chuckle, and try your best to make it to your feet. The end result is you leaning against the wall, but you’d lean on it on verses him helping you. You have no idea where Gregory would take you if you did. “I-i’m fine. I...I was just hoping to go home, actually?” 

 

“Hm?” Gregory’s eyes widened, and he acted as if shocked. “You wish to go home? But my dear! In your condition, you’d surely perish! Please, stay here and have Dr. Fritz look after you, he’ll make sure your right as rain before you-” 

 

“Please.” You cut in, too tired to be polite. You pull your sweater around you tightly, finding it still has the smell of faded strawberries. “I want to go home…” 

 

“It’s rude to interrupt, my dear!” He scowled, taking another step closer to you. You saw a flicker of annoyance in his eyes. It was like a lit match in a dark room. “Besides, it’s much safer for your to stay here anyway! The world is full of nasty thing, bad things; the things that probably hurt you regularly, correct?” 

 

All the while, Fritz watches nervously, tapping his fingers together as he waits for the struggle to subside. Occasional, out of the corner of your eye, you see him reach out to grab you or guide you back to the wall. He does seem genuinely worried about your well being, surprisingly. Eventually he’s had enough and rushed over, looping your good arm over his tiny shoulders. 

 

“Alright, alright. That's e-enough. It’s been a long day for everyone, and we’re all tired. I’ll take her back to her room.” Fritz cut in, giving Gregory a pleading look. “Before she wakes up any other  _ guests _ .” 

 

“I’ll be fine,” you interject, still peeved by all this fake kindness. You try to pull away, but you find you’re effectively pinned. Great. 

 

“I’d advise that you’d follow Dr. Fritz’s orders, my dear.” Gregory stated, starting to turn away. “Doctor's tend to do what’s best for their patients.” 

 

Before you can say anything else, he’s already shuffling down the hallway, and in a few blink of your eye, he’s faded into the darkness. You let out a sigh. 

 

It’s a few moments of silence before anyone else say anything. 

 

“Well, that went better than expected.” Dr. Fritz muses, starting to drag you back to your room. You manage to get your footing, and decided to go ahead and walk with him. No sense fighting now, seeing as you have no idea what  _ he’d  _ even do.

 

As you both shuffle along, he decided to break the silence. 

 

“Nice sweater.” He says. 

 

“Thank you.” You reply, looking at the wood on the walls. 

 

“Do you knit? Or-” 

 

“No, no.” You shake your head, and let the silence resume. But after a few minutes, you feel rude and decide to play along. “I got it from a friend of mine. She knits all the time.” 

 

“Or really?” His voice perks up, glad you responded no doubt. “You guys must have been close then. It’s not everyday someone knits you a sweater.”

 

“Yeah…” You’re voice drifts off once more, taking notice to the past tense he uses but not noting it. The awkward silence resumes.

 

It’s only a few minutes later that you’ve returned to your room. You could have sworn that you’d ran farther than that, but it seems you were wrong. You’re maneuvered through the doorway and towards your bed. It’s pretty difficult, seeing as your room’s a mess. You must have  bolted so quickly that you scattered the clutter of stuff that surrounded your room. That our someone else rummaged around your junk. You really hope not. 

 

“There you go. Any aches?” He asks, raising a stitched eyebrow. He smiles as you shake your head, and he turns away and starts gathering your thing. “Good, good. You know, keeping a clean room will decrease your chances of busting your head again. But seeing as you’re still a bit discombobulated, I’ll handle it.” 

 

“...T-thank you.” You mutter, feeling embarrassed for the mess. You’d make a move to get up if you weren’t so tired. Yet before you could even blink, half of the junk on your floor is shoved into your hands.

 

“Oh, don’t thank me yet. I’m setting them up here for you to sort through. I can’t make head or tails of half this junk. At least, not in this lighting” He replied, handing another stack of papers to you. He also set books on the desk across from you, and adjusted your backpack securely to the chair nearby. You merely blink, lazily nodded, and began sorting. As you both work, he finally allowed himself to chatter.

 

“I swear, it’s been ages since anyone new ever came here. I was beginning to think the world had turned into a good place. I mean, why else would anyone want to come to a hell hole like this?! The owner’s a murderous rat for heaven’s sake, not to mention the leaky roof and the poor cable connection. Oh, and don’t even get me started on the food, seriously, don’t. As a matter of fact, that’s how the last person here died, I believe. But that doesn’t matter. You’re just some poor kid mixed up in all this. Some poor kid who does what, algebra? Calculus? Or are you into stats? Right?”

 

“...Can you help me get home?” 

 

Dr. Fritz paused, midway from reaching for one of your pencils, and became silent. After a few moments, you assume he was thinking carefully on how to answer you, he stood up and made his way to the door. Slowly shutting it, he picked up the remaining scattered items across the small room and set them down on the table. He took his seat in the chair by the desk, minding the backpack, and stared long and hard at you. 

 

“...Please?” You begged. 

 

“Well...Not really,” He began, sighing and adjusting his glasses. He seemed older than he was, far more tired than he had been. “To be honest, i’m still getting used to all of this too. It wasn’t too long ago that this place was a hospital instead of a hotel. But the point of the matter is, you have to get out on your own. Everyone else did.” 

 

“So people have made it out of here?” You asked, taking the opening like it was your life line. It probably was. “Anything you know would help, any pointer, any tips, please! Just tell me!” 

 

“Whoa, whoa, calm down!” He raised a hand, and seemed surprised when you obeyed. You quickly gathered that this man never really gained much respect in his life. “Listen, you need to be careful! You can’t ask questions so recklessly, or do things like that either; it’ll get you killed.”

 

“O-ok. What else?” You continued, looking for a piece of paper to write things down on. You’d ask him for a pen in a second. 

 

“I-I can’t just tell you these things! There are rules that need to be followed, guide line that keep the rest of us from ending up like…” 

 

He tried to drop the conversation, yet you picked it back up and ran with it. Manners be damned, you didn’t want to die in here!

 

“Like who? And if you can’t tell me things, can you give me hints? Like if there's anywhere I can hide, or who to trust? I mean, I’m still going o-out on a limb trusting you, b-but you don’t want me dead, right? And who should I avoid?” 

 

“Stop-”

 

“What about when I’m hurt, where can I find you? Last time Gregory took me to the clinic, only Cathrine came. How do I find you if-

 

“I said stop asking-”

 

“And those robots! Judgement Boy or whatever actually killed me by knocking my skull in! Will he do that again? Do you have a helmet I can borrow? And what about the dog boy, with the axe in his head? He-”

 

“What part of stop don’t you understand!” 

 

You effectively stop, noticing how your chair now has Dr. Fritz’s finger shaped holes dugg into the framing. 

 

“...i-I’m sorry,” Dr. Fritz apologizes, and a few moments later, as he gets up to make his way to the door, speaks again. “All I can say, currently, is that you need some bed r-rest. A large man will most likely bring you some food, seeing as you’re on bed rest. I’d advise you eat the meal completely.”

 

He opens the door, staring to make his exit, Yet he stops just for a moment to turn to you. His gaze is sad and almost nostalgic, as if he’s remembering something else. 

 

“Also, the judgement Boys, although jerks, won’t kill you. What happened was an a-accident.” 

 

You nod just a he closes the door, leaving you alone in the room.

 

You reach over to the desk, grab a pencil, and begin to record down what you already know. You’ll probably stay awake into the “large man” will arrive. You're not going to lie about this. You’re still scared, our still in pain, and you're still not home. Yet, deep in your frightened little soul, a flicker of hope signs through. There's at least a few people around here that don’t want to see you get hurt. 

  
Maybe you’ll be fine after all...


	5. Discovery

You don't know how many days you’ve spent here. Your room has no clock, and seeing as you’ve lost your cellphone, you have no way to tell what time it is. And the sky never changes, as once you finally got the nerve to check, you noticed it always remained the same only black. Even if you feel like you’ve slept for hours, it never lightens. If anything, it only gets darker and darker.

You’ve basically kept yourself on bed rest. You’re too scared to leave the room, fearful of what else is out there. Plus, it gives you time to heal, seeing as you’re still on a bit of a sorry state. To keep busy, you’ve been doing the homework you were given before all this, having two projects due for different classes. That way, if you ever got back, you wouldn’t be as behind as you could be. 

You weren’t completely left alone, surprisingly. Gregory had made sure that you were “taken care” of, having ether Catherine or Dr. Fritz coming in to check on you every now and then. Fritz’s visits were awkward, but much less painful than Catherine's. Ether one would sometimes be accompanied by Mummy Dog, who you soon realized was more ignorant than violent. It made some sense to you, it was all he ever saw. Therefore, he believe they were doing the right thing.

“So you gotta do all that stuff cause you're in “school”?” He asked once, when Dr. Fritz was checking to make sure your head was healing nicely. “

“...yeah.” You responded, despite the fact that Fritz was examining your pupils and checking your reflexes. “It’s given to make sure you understand what the teacher taught you. Don’t you go to school?” 

“Nope!” Mummy Dog said with a smile, before rushing off to look at one of your many school books. His eyes, although lifeless, seemed to hold unending joy at the new items. 

“Gregory house doesn't have one.” Fritz said with a subtle sigh, pulling away and gently taking your broken arm. “A lot of the kids here are taught by their parents, or whoever takes care of them.” 

“Wait, there’s more?! I thought there was only Mummy dog and jam-ow!” You exclaimed, only wincing as Fritz unwrapped your arm and felt the bruises. You quickly received a scowl from him as well. 

“Don’t say his name. I swear that brat has a death wish for everyone in this hotel, even his own grandfather.” Fritz stated, a few of his undead nerves starting to show on his forehead. He continued to check on your arm as he ranted, a little ignorant of your pained look. “Just last week, he turned all my lab coats pink! And not before locking me in a room with a blood thirsty Catherine! And that's not even counting the times he’s taken my glasses and-”

“Dr Fritz sir, could you please let go of my arm!” You quickly cut in, feeling tears prick your eyes as the undead doctor’s grip had proven too much.

Quickly, Fritz retracted his hands, as if bitten by a snake. You’d quickly retracted your arm during this time, and kept it cradled by your side.

“Ah, my apologies!” He said, both quickly and apologetically. “I tend to get a bit carried away...but that’s not excuse. You are my patient after all, the first human one in a while, as a matter of fact. I should be far more gentle with you then I am with other guests.” 

“A-apologize accepted, but you said there w-were other children here, right? How could Gregory let kids stay here?! This place is a death trap!” You asked, still a bit nervous of the Doctor, but not enough to stop your questioning. 

The good doctor opened his mouth, but after a moment or two of silence, he close it and seemed to go into a deep thought. As you watched Dr. Fritz ponder his next words, your eyes drifted back to Mummy Dog, who was busy trying to read your science book. Well, read was a strong word. He was flipping through it, and looking at all the diagrams and illustrations it held. He would try to sound out words, and then flip to the back of the book for their definition. All and all, he’d remained oblivious to your conversation. 

Again, you figured out quickly that Mummy Dog was just naive, not dumb. It reminded you of your brother, how’d he flip through your school books and stare at the page. 

“Ah, well, it’s a bit complicated…” Fritz finally said, breaking the silence. You didn’t turn to look at him. “You see, it really depends on the circumstances. Most children come on their own, looking for something they never had back home. Mummy dog’s whole family, on the other hand, came here. I’m not sure why, i’ve never really asked. But not all children came from where you did. Some of them were born here…” 

The conversation seemed to end at that. You didn’t have the nerve to ask if he was born here or made here or what. You simply figured that information was a bit too personal, at least for now. You did get a good amount of information from anyway, regardless. 

The first thing you learned, rather quickly at that, was that if you stayed here for too long, you’d end up like the other guests. Which meant, not human at all. You have no idea what you’d turn into, or how and why. Most of the guests you’d met were animals, but some weren't. Hell, Fritz was even a...zombie? Frankenstein’s monster rip off? 

Corpse?

You were still on the fence about the matter. But you knew you didn’t want to stick around and see what you’d turn into. 

Another thing you learned was that, at least for children, guests had to want something they never had at home. That could have been taken both figuratively and literally. But you don’t really know if they applied to you. All you were really looking for was a break, some time you could spend not worrying about school or work, or your family or…

Maybe that's what drew you here. You wanted time away from your worries, and it gave it to you…But why you? That seemed like such a normal, human worry. There were a number of others it could have chosen….

You still had more things you needed to figure out before you could piece together how to escape. Which meant weathering out more mysteries, odd tortures. One of those turned out to be the Hotel’s chef, who you met in perhaps the oddest way yet. 

For the past few days, right after the Doctor’s first visit, you’d been sleeping. You couldn’t do much else, and your head still ached rather badly. He’d even managed to give you some rather strong pain medicine, which didn’t help at keeping you awake at all. You had been asleep when the Chef, in his tall, intimidating glory, shuffled into your room with a tray full of soup. 

You remember being shook into sitting up, but still stuck in that wonderful haze of deep slumber. The perfect mixture to keep you calm as a giant candle man placed the tray on your bed and waited for you to eat. He hadn’t said a word, even as you turned to look at him. In your state, you managed to make out his blonde, almost white hair. With that, your mind connected the first things it thought of when it saw blonde hair and an intimidating figure.

“Thanks mom,” you said, almost automatically, before groggily taking a bite. You’re eyes lit up at the amazing flavor just as the Chef realized what you called him.

**_“I am not- !”_ ** He began, glaring daggers at you, but quickly stopped as he noticed the vigor you had. Yet you didn’t hear his raspy voice, as you were quickly scarfing down the soup in front of you. He was right, your mother hadn’t cooked in years! This food would forever be better than whatever she’d try to do. 

By the time you cleared the bowl, he’d settled into simmering by the dresser, waiting for you to finish. You blinked at him hazily, before making a move to get up and put your dishes away. He shook his head, walked over, and took the bowl from you before you did so. You stared at him as he did so, before a small smile graced your face. 

“Thank you.” You practically yawned as your eyes fought to stay open. With each blink, they became heavier and heavier. “I don’t...have any money to repay you…but that was the best meal…. i’ve had in….in ….forever.” 

As your head feel quickly back onto your pillow, you had no idea how narrowly you’d avoided death. You still wouldn’t know as the Chef had debated to himself whether to let you marinate, or to chop you up fresh and use you for tomorrow next appetizer. He held the gigantic knife, one you’d missed entirely during the exchange, close to your peacefully sleeping body. But the compliment you gave him seemed to stick…

After a few moments, he’d lifted the knife, and removed himself from the room. Your meat would be far too sweet for the roast, he’d have to let you stew for a while before you’d be acceptable. 

You’d wouldn’t know he’d been doing this each time, until you’d faked falling asleep. You had to fight the shiver that would crawl up your spine as you felt knife’s edge dance over your throat, as if tracing out where to carve you. You never looked at the Chef the same way afterwards. 

It went on like this, for a while, you guessed. Yet each time they came to you, something seemed to changed. You hadn’t noticed at first, as you were still in quite a bit of pain. But you began to withstand things for longer than you expected. If you remembered to, you’d count how long you could go without falling asleep. Slowly, but surely, you began to grow stronger. You’d be able to withstand getting your blood drained for longer, or stay awake for more time each time Chef brought you food. Your arm even began to heal at a far faster rate than any of your other broken bones.

By the time a “week” had passed, your arm became fully healed. But you still couldn’t shake the occasional headache you’d get. Yet that didn’t seem to matter, as once you had been cleared of your ailments, Gregory finally made his reappearance, with James in toe. Which left you at where you were at now. You had been finishing up on the last bit of your homework, making you officially caught up as you could be, when the door has swung open. So caught in your work, you nearly jumped at the sudden change in area, but quickly calmed down when you saw it was Gregory. His eyes scanned over you, and a scowl graced his face, as if disappointed you weren’t dead; but it was quickly replaced by that creepy smirk of his. As he walked in, james rushed in behind him, trying to seem as innocent as ever. 

“Ah, my dear! It’s so wonderful to see you well!” He exclaimed with a false sense of happiness, shuffling over and peering over your shoulder. “I’ve heard the good news from Dr. Frtiz himself, you’re all patched up! I must say, that was quite the speedy recover, I was worried you wouldn’t be able to pay off your debt if that arm of yours was still broken!” 

“Debt?” You asked, looking up at him with a confused glance. You sat your pencil down on the desk as you turned to face him. “Gregory, sir, I thought you said that I could stay here for free, until I could find my way home.” 

“Ah, well yes, I technically did say that,” Gregory nodded as he examined the paper his eyes scanning over the numbers and equations of your stat homework. “But, well, I assumed you’d find your way home by now. Yet with that broken arm, and the fact that you haven’t even started...It’s put my once charitable kindness into a financial loss. One I can’t simply allow to grow any bigger! That’s why today, my dear, until you find your way back home, you’ll be the hotel’s maid until further notice!” 

“O-oh…” You simply said, feeling uneasy with the idea of being roped into all of this. You didn’t want to say he couldn’t do that, because even back in the real world, that would happen. People who couldn’t pay in restaurants would often go back and clean the dishes, you assumed this would be similar to that. You just hoped you wouldn’t be working here for the rest of your afterlife. “O-ok...Uh, what do I need to do first?”

“Yes My dear you’ll-Pardon?” Gregory’s once mirthful smirk slipped away for a moment, he himself had expected you to protest, it seemed. He was surprised that you didn’t. 

“I’ll do it, sir.” You said firmly, standing up and shuffling over towards him. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw James flipping through one of your notebooks, taking a spare pencil and drawing away. You hoped it was on a clean page. “Where should I start?” 

“Ah, well, hm…” Gregory pauses for a second, scrambling for what to say next, after a few moments, a light twinkled in his eyes, and you assumed he had an idea. “For now, just take the broom and dust pan by the front service desk and roam the halls. Just make sure there isn’t any trash lying about. I’ve already done most the chores today. Tomorrow, on the other hand, i’ll have a whole list for you to do. Understood?” 

“Y-yes sir.” You nodded, and waited for them to leave. 

Yet the two mice didn’t, instead starting at you, as if expecting you to leave. When it became apparent that you weren’t going to budge, Gregory once again spoke up.

“Don’t worry my dear, James was just helping me tidy the guest’s rooms. Your things will be fine with us.” Gregory began with a sly smile. 

“Yeah! No one would want this crummy books anyway, they barely have any pictures!” James piped up, closing your notebook and setting it on your bed. After a few moments, he gives you a smile that seems far to cheerful to be true. Yet you know you’d lose this battle. You can only hope your stuff will be fine when you return. 

“A-alright,” With that, you’re making your way to the door. You spare one last glance at the two rodents, still at unease with their smirks and their far too kind tones. Yet if you fought, there'd be a scuffle, a scene, and maybe even your death...

With a sigh, you leave the room, and enter into the hallway. Faintly, in the air, you can smell the scent of cigarettes and roses. For some reason, despite being scared, you feel far safer than you ever had. You grab the broom from the desk and wander into the unknown. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter! During this time, I'll be taking suggestion as to which guest Sweater Guests meets first! Tell me who you want to see her interact with during her trip down the halls!


	6. Choices, Choices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna post this chapter on Halloween but i really didn't like the original ending. Whoops

When you first met your little brother, you had been left at the house as your mother and stepfather ran off to the hospital. He said he’d come back to get you once they got your mother situated, but they never did. So you waited on the couch for what felt like forever, falling asleep and being forgotten. Yet when he came back, he refused to take you…

It wouldn’t be until your mother brought him home that you finally got to see what the fuss was about. When you first held that squirming, bundled wrapped baby, you swore you’d make sure it wouldn't ever get hurt.

You bet other older siblings felt the same way...

It had been a week since you’d started cleaning the house.

You were just getting ready to clean the foyer, per Gregory's request. Having gathered a small cart of cleaning supplies, you had managed to sneak towards the area with no one noticing. Being noticed often lead to being “checked” on, as both Catherine and Dr. Fritz often dubbed it. Depending on who it was, though, the resulted differed vastly. Yes, because of this you often appreciated making your rounds unnoticed. 

Yet on your way to said foyer, you noticed a room with sunlight pouring out of the cracks of the door. 

Seeing as you hadn’t seen sunlight at all, not once since you arrived here, the sight managed to keep you from moving. You simply stared for a moment, perhaps two, before bolting towards the door and flinging it open. Shielding our eyes from the harsh rays, a few tears escape you’d as you wondered if you’d managed to find your way home. Yet when a hot, dry breeze blew towards you, you realized that no, this was not the case…

Lowering your hands, you examined the vast expanse of dry dirt and sand, littered here and there with a cactus or two. In the distance, a small town, almost like one of those old western sets, was set up. You were too far away to see if there were any people there, but from the looks of it, it seemed abandoned. Looking away from the doorway, towards the now dim hallway, you gazed at the sign next to the door. “Library” seemed to be plastered on in an old, almost withered plaque. You looked back at world ahead of you…

You could leave, but where would this take you. 

Could it be a different part of your world? Or could it be just another part of this one…

They way out couldn’t be too easy, could it?

“Hey lady! What’cha doin?”

Spinning around, you caught sight of James standing right behind you. He seemed to have a curious look on his face, and before you could answer, he’d already pushed around you and peered in towards the room(?), eyes widening at the sight. 

“Whoa! So this is where they moved it! Ha, yeah! C’mon” 

Before you could stop him, he’d already darted into the room, grabbing your hand and pulling you inside. You tried to pry your hand away, yet he held you in an iron grip. If he was a normal kid, this’d be impossible for his tiny little hands to do. Yet you’d learned long, long ago that nothing about this place is “normal”. 

“James?! Let go of me!” You called out, furiously jerking you arm to get him to let go. “I-i have work to do!”

Not that you wanted to do it, but it would probably be better than sweating to death in this mysterious room. You could already feel beads starting to form on your head and neck, and especially on your palms. 

“Not yet! Cactus girl took my toy! This is the only chance i’m gonna have to get it back!” James exclaimed, not even looking tired as he ran. With each step, he kicked up more and more sand, until finally they’d hit a dry dirt path. Not that it helped you, seeing as your clothes had pick up a good amount of grime. “It’s now or never!” 

By the time he’d let go of your hand, you’d noticed that you were in the center of the town, and eerily enough, no one was there. It was simply you, James, and the occasional tumbleweed that blew by. Quickly turning you head to see if the doorway was still open, you felt your hopes fall as you noticed that there wasn’t any doorway in sight. Nope, it looked as if you were stuck here…

“Hey, are you coming or not?” 

Turning back towards James, you watched as he ran into one of the many empty buildings. With an annoyed sigh, you made your way after him. With the old wooden planks groaning and creaking underneath you, it made you wonder exactly how long ago this had been built. Was it made when the hotel was or after?  Better yet, how did this little mysterious pocket space even get here…

And then, where was the library?

“So, what toy are you looking for?” You asked James, once you’d found the young mouse again. He was dashing around the current room he’d found, opening empty draw after empty draw. “And who’s Cactus girl?”

“My lizard,” James said, flinging open draws left and right, each one empty. As he ran around in his mad dash, you carefully followed after him, closing each one. People could get hurt, and whoever this place belong to, they probably wouldn’t be happy with you two in here. “I scared her brother with it, so she took it away and hid it!”

“And you think it’s here why?” You questioned, following him as he left the room and skittered up the stairs. Dust scattered as you both moved about. It didn’t look like anyone had been here for years...There’s no way anyway there could have been anyone else here. “Also y-you didn’t answer my second question.”

“Grampa gave them this place too keep Cactus gunman from trying to revolt,” James responded with an annoyed tone, turning to her as if she should have known this by now. Or, rather, that he didn’t really care to explain it. “And the Cactus siblings are the Cactus siblings, pretty self explanatory.” 

“No, not really!” You said, throwing your arms out in exasperation. Either way, you figured the young mouse would know a way out of this dusty hell, so you’d have to watch him…

You were also still on the fence on whether you needed to look after him or not. It only took you a few days to realize that while Mummy dog was actually naive, James was pretty much faking it. If he wasn’t dragging you into trouble, he was bringing someone else to cause some for you. Starting to get on your nerves was a bit of an understatement, you we’re full on tired of his crap. 

Still, you hadn’t met anyone new, so these “Cactus siblings” started to worry you, especially the one with “Guman” in his name.

“So, uh...does everyone else h-have their own little...this?” You motioned to the area around you, closing the dresser that James had swung open not a second before. By now you’d both shifted into a bedroom. 

“Sorta. It depends on the guest.” James responded, darting under the bed and shooting out the other side. He was covered in lint and dust bunnies, but none the less empty handed. “Aw, darn it!” 

“So only a f-few people do. You said this “gunman” was given this place to keep him from r-revolting, is he trapped here too?” You asked again, looking outside the nearby window. So far, nothing but a tumble weed moved. Perhaps you wouldn’t meet them today, hopefully. 

“No one’s ever trapped here, you dummy. Everyone comes here by choice.” 

That response seemed to cause something to twinge inside you. Quickly turning to face james, you notice that the room is empty. How long had you been starting out that window? 

“James?” You called out, to receive no response. Feeling a bit of your annoyance crumble, fear seeped in the cracks and took hold of you. “James, c’mon w-where are you?” 

Only the howls of the wind answered back. 

Feeling dread at this silence, you quickly made you way out of the room. Looking down each corridor, each creaky hallway, you soon abandoned the empty house and shuffled out into the street. Your heart rate increased, your began to sweat but for a completely new reason. 

Your looking around frantically, yet you can’t find him.

What if you were going to be trapped here too? Is this how it’ll be?! How will you survive?!

Suddenly, you hear a gunshot. 

The words “ _ gunman _ ” flashes in your mind. 

You run. 

Before you realize it, you’ve dashed into a build across the street. Noticing how it mirrors the previous building you escaped, you body forms a plan before your mind can catch up.

You bolt up the stairs.

You duck into a room. 

You spot a bed, a dresser, and a window with stiff, thick curtains.

Trying to catch your breath, you look behind you, and notice how you’ve tracked footsteps up towards the room.

Another gunshot goes off, followed by yelling.

They're getting closer.

“O-oh god…” you stammer, so frightened you feel like you're about to hurl.  

You’ve lived through blood loss and blunt force trauma, but you’re not sure you’ll be able to beat a bullet. 

“Oh g-g-god, o-oh g- god…” 

Your grip on the sweater, grimy and dirty as it is, tightens. They’ll find you. They’ll follow you right here and they’ll kill you and you’ll die and you’ll never go home and-

Suddenly, you smell burnt tobacco and roses…

_ She  _ used to smell like roses, but you’re not sure where the tobacco came from…

Yet it does calm you down...

“N-no,” you finally mutter, feeling a surge of determination swell through you, “c’mon, t-think. You c-can’t die here...y-you just can’t…” 

Looking down at your shoes, you carefully back track out to the hallway. You spot the next room over. Carefully walking towards it, you make your way towards the entrance, before turning towards your other tracks. Then, in rapid movements, you practically tap dance in the messy triangle you’ve made. The end result is perfect. 

It was a mess of footsteps and dust. Practically impossible to decipher. 

Walking back to the room first room, you take off your shoes and slip them under the curtain. Carefully following your path of footsteps. You managed to get into the next room’s dresser just before the third gunshot rang out. 

Closing the creaky door, you crouched and buried yourself in between dusty cloths of all sorts. Noticing a few hat boxes, you move those around yourself as quietly as you could, shielding yourself from the outside. With in this prison of outdated apparel, you wait.

And wait…

And wait…

Carefully, the muffled sounds started to get louder and louder. You could make out two voices, one higher than the other, and their argumentative tones. But the words were lost to you. It’s only when you hear their footsteps creaking up the stairs that you realized that, unlike the previous rooms, this dresser was full of clothes…

Which meant someone had to put them there…

By the time the duo came up to the first floor, their conversation slowed to a stopping point. Yet they had said just a few words for you to get that whatever they spoke, you couldn’t decipher. What was that, Spanish?

As you waited in fear, you heard whispers, quickly followed by quiet sneaking around. They knew someone was here. But they didn’t know where…

“Ah HA!” Came a gruff yell, and then another gunshot. 

Tears sprang into your eyes as you braced for the bullet that never came. 

The gunman had simply hit your decoy. 

You figured that out by the quick curses that followed. 

After a few moments, you hear another voice echo out, making their way into the room you were in. As they yelled at the lower voice, the opened the dresser. As light, bright and blinding, shined in, you finally got to see who these people were…

Well, James was right. They did live up to their namesakes…

The person who opened the dresser door was some sort of cactus humanoid, with long green hair, prickly skin, and deep red eyes. She, you assumed, seemed unaware of you, her eyes glued onto their mixed matched clothes. You fought every urge to run, instead willing yourself to stay completely still. You helplessly watched as she reached in and pushed coats, dresses, everything around, muttering to herself as she looked for  _ something _ …

After a few moments, she pulled out a yellow rope, that was once draped over a nearby hangar. For a moment, it seemed like you were going to get by unseen…

And then the girl dropped her rope.

Right on top of your head.

You both locked eyes for perhaps a second, maybe two, before the world seemed to turn. 

“What the hell?!” the girl practically spat, stumbling back just as you rushed up to dash out of the dresser. You didn’t look back, you needed to run. 

You had to run. 

You had to survive.

As you bolted to the stairs, you saw a darker green blur to your left, and heard the bang of a gun just inches behind you. Wood chips sprayed to your right, but you didn’t stop to survey the damage.

“A Senorita?!” Came a surprised gasp from behind you. The voice, despite it’s gruffness, seemed to squeak at this revelation. 

You were already at the bottom of the stairs. 

“Don’t let her get away!” The Cactus girl yelled, not too far behind. Her accent thick and her tone outraged. “She was hidin’ in my stuff!”

Another bullet whizzed by your head. Tears were streaming down your eyes. Your socks hit the dirt, the setting sun blinded you for a moment, yet it didn’t stop you. You had to get away, you had to go before you got hurt, you had to run, you had to _ live _ !

You ran down the street, from the direction you’d came in. In front of you was the setting sun, the few stray cacti standing around, and the vast emptiness. Your lungs burned, your legs ached, but you could still hear yelling, still hear gunshots. 

Then, in the distance, you saw it. A dark, foreboding rectangle in the middle of nowhere. Spite your lack of air, a mad laugh seemed to escape you. It wasn’t close, but you could make it. 

You had too. 

Going for the final sprint, you leaned forward as you kicked up a sand and dust. 

You were almost there, almost…

Suddenly, just as your arm had made it's way through the door, you saw a flash of yellow go over your head, and wrap around your neck. 

The cool air of the hotel kissed your face for a small moment, before you were yanked back into the smoldering heat of the desert. You couldn’t even scream, the rope crushing your throat as you skid across the dirt and grime. 

You skipped up once, twice, thrice; before stopping face first in front of the two Cactus siblings in a pile of bloodied skin and ripped fabric. 

You were trembling, like a rat caught in a trap. 

“Wow, I think you broke a record that time!” The gunman exclaimed, a bit of pride shining in his eyes at his Sister’s skill. “She almost got away.”

“Thanks!” She beamed, holding her end of the rope close to her chest and smiling widely. “I’ve been practicing ever since-” 

“P-p-please,” you rasped, trying so hard to lift yourself up off the ground, but failing. “P….please don’t...don’t kill me…I...i’m n-not r-r-ready to die…”

The siblings turned their gaze towards you. Hidden by the sun’s rays as well as the shade from their hats, you had no idea what was going to happen. You felt even more tears fall down your face, but you didn’t stop trying to get up. 

Suddenly, the Gunman kneeled down, and you saw a surprisingly sympathetic look on his face, for someone who was shooting you not a moment ago…

“Senorita, how old are you?” He asked.

You paused, At first out of fear, but then because you generally didn’t remember...

“...I’m...I’m a teenager.” You muttered, your gaze not focused on him, but on yourself. Why couldn’t you remember, was it because of the lack of air? The trauma? “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I c-came here cause James d-dragged me-” 

Before you could speak anything else, the rope tightened around your neck again. Choking, your hand’s went from supporting you to scratching at the yellow straw around your neck, trying desperately to get some release. 

The man turned to his sister with a look of scrutiny. “Sis-!” 

“Hold it right there!” 

Your vision was already starting to go black, yet the rope was slackened. You felt calloused clawed hands grab your shoulders and pull you away. For a moment, you felt safe. Safe enough to pass out, it seemed…

Once again, you blacked out…

 

* * *

 

When you came too, you noticed that you were currently looking at the ceiling of the hotel hallway. You could tell it was the hotel not only by the cool air, but the railing that the judgement boys used to move about hanging up tightly. As you blinked your eyes back to focus, you noticed your body was being moved, no, being dragged, by a figure in red and white. 

Behind you, you heard three voices.

“Do you have any  _ idea _ how horrible it would have been if you took her this early?!” Gregory screeched, no doubt furious. “We haven’t had a decent soul in months! Forget her having  _ my _ head, she would have burnt you two to a crisp for this stunt!” 

“Aie yie yie, how many time to we have to apologize, it was an accident!” Gunman, you assumed, exclaimed. “Besides, your _ nieto  _ led her there. We we’re defending our stuff!”

“Yet you decided to try and choke her out even after you got her?!” Gregory bit back, his tone venomous. “You’re lucky I saw what was going on before you doomed us all, you little-”

“Leave my sister alone, you-!”

You heard the click of a gun. 

Instantly, the world seemed to spin as your legs were dropped and a huge knife loomed over you. Letting out a hiss as your heels painfully collided with the hardwood floor, you quickly flipped out of the way of the blade. But it wasn’t focused at you. 

The gunman had taken aim at Gregory, who remained pinned to the wall. Chef, meanwhile, had the knife inches from the the gunman’s neck. Yet Cactus girl had managed to snag one of her brother’s guns, having it aimed at the chef all the while. No one seemed to make a move. The tension in the air was so thick, you cut it with a knife. 

“But the knife away,” Cactus girl commanded, but was met with no reply. 

“Gunman, put that away,” Gregory tried to say, yet his voice did stutter here and there. 

“Not until you a-apologize to my little sister.” The gunman shakily replied back, pressing his finger on the trigger a little tighter. Suddenly, you felt a wave of sympathy wash over you. You understood this man. You understood him far better than anyone else you ever met before…

Shakily, you rose to your feet. 

Three out of four heads snapped towards you, each looking at you as an outsider. They weren’t wrong….

Swallowing your fear, you slowly started to make your way to the Gunman and Gregory. 

“H-hey, c’mon. T-there's no need for this.” You began, only for Cactus girl to point her gun at you. You’re paused, but kept going. “...I-if you want someone to blame, t-then blame me. I-if I hadn’t let J-James drag me in, t-then none of t-this would have happened…”

You we’re rather close now, standing next to the duo. No one said a word. 

“...I-i know how you feel, G-gunman sir,” You began, keeping you hand sup and your gaze focused on him. “I-i have a little brother, a-about James age. I-if anyone I knew w-would insult him, i’d probably act the same way...B-but it’s not the right answer. V-violence is never the answer…”

By now, you’d managed to wedge yourself between Gregory and the gun, much to the surprised of the rat, who let out an undignified “huh?” from behind you. He didn’t move, preferring to use use as a shield.

Hell chef lowered his blade. 

Gunman still kept his weapon drawn, but his gaze seemed almost confused. 

“I-if you w-want someone to blame, t-then blame me.” 

You were afraid, you were so, so much afraid; but you couldn’t let this happen. You understood the logic behind it, but anyone who thinks like that is obviously not a bad person...At least, not completely. 

“...What’s his name?” Gunman asked, quirking an eyebrow to see if you knew. Yet it seemed like a dumb answer, because how would you ever forget it. 

“His name is Henry.” You said, putting up a smile. 

Slowly, the guns we’re lowered. You let out a sigh. 

“Ah, well, that was something…” Gregory muttered, stepping out from behind you to glare at the duo. “You two are dismissed. If I hear another scuffle like this, though, you’ll have to sleep with one eye open…” 

You watched as the siblings started to shuffle away, but not before you caught the Gunman’s gaze lingering on you. It almost seemed confused, and for a moment, hopeful…Yet he turned away before anything could be deciphered. You were so distracted by it, you didn’t notice until you felt a clawed hand be placed on your shoulder. Stiffening slightly, you hear a laugh almost akin to a creaky old door. 

“My dear you are a lifesaver!” Gregory exclaimed, surprisingly sounding sincere. “I honestly couldn’t deal with another spat between those two, and you managed to defuse it in a matter of minutes!”

Despite the disgust you felt to the mouse, you couldn’t help but be flattered by the compliment. 

“I-i...I just don’t like people fighting is all, sir.” You replied, lifting the mouse's paw off your shoulder and avoiding his gaze. 

“Oh nonsense, my dear, nonsense. You know originally I was going to punish you for slacking off on your duties, but with all things considered, i’ll have to reward you for saving this old mouse's life! Is there anything you’d like, food wise that is? I’m sure Chef could whip you up some sort of desert, won’t you old friend?” 

You could tell now that there was a hint of something in there. As if the question was loaded...

Chef didn’t say much on the matter, but he didn’t scoff…

“Oh, uh, well…” You paused for a moment, trying to think on what to ask...after a few moments, you turned to the chef. “What do you recommend, sir?” 

If you were in a video game, you’d certainly just earned some major friendship points, at least, that what it looked like from Hell chef’s gaze. Mostly due to how genuinely surprised he seemed. After a few moments, he seemed to give his answer in a mutter. 

**“...Red velvet cake…”** he said, crossing his arms and nodding a bit, sending some wax pouring down. 

“I’ll h-have that then, sir.” You said, the nervousness fading out of your smile. “I-is it alright if I-i eat in my room though...I...I don’t wish to meet anyone else tonight, if that's alright.” 

Your wishes were granted. Later on, you were escorted towards your room, left to wait until your sweet reward was delivered via the chef himself. He didn’t seem to leave until you ate every last bite, and so you tried your best to savor the flavor despite his ominous presence. 

Thankfully, as he left, you didn’t even feel like passing out at all. It seemed that your deeds were to be rewarded…

So there you were, late at night, your gaze focused onto the ceiling as you thought long and hard about the events of the day. Yet two things seemed to stick with you the hardest…

Making you way out of your bed, you shuffled over to your desk and opened your backpack. Grabbing one of your binder, you flipped through each note, each page, scouring for the answer you desperately needed… Yet with each project, each essay, you realized that you wouldn’t be able to find it…

You’d forgotten your name…

Placing the books back in your backpack, you carefully crawled back into bed as your mind lingered on the words James said to you…

You...you didn’t really chose to be here…

Did you?


End file.
